Fence-post



E SIMS PBNGE POST.

(No Model.)

No. 419,080. Patented Jan.7,1890.

NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ELIJAI-I'SIMS, OF AURORA, ILLINOIS.

FENCE-POST.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 419,080, dated January7, 1.890. i

Application filed January 30, 1889. Serial No. 2981132. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ELIJAH SIMS, a citizen of the United States,residing at Aurora, in the county of Kane and State of Illinois, haveinvented a new and useful Improvement in Fence-Posts, of which thefollowing is a specification.

The object of my improvement is to produce a cast-iron post for fenceswhich, by its construction, gives the required strength and properweight and is adaptcd for a wire or for a rail or board fence, and whichcan be manufactured at a comparatively small cost.

The construction, which adapts the post for the erection either of awire or of a board fence, consists of two parallel plates, with a spacebetween them, having divisions a proper distance apart, which areprovided with perforations for hook-eye-forming bolts, so that bysetting the post in one position the hookeyebolts are used to receiveand secure the wires, and by setting the post in position at rightangles the divisions of the open space between the plates serve toreceive and secure the ends of the boards.

The base or foot of the post is formed of radial blades capped by ahorizontal baseplate from which the parallel plates rise, and whichlatter are provided with radial ribs on their outer sides, and the postis east complet-e with these parts, including the holes in the divisionsof the space between the parallel plates to receive the hook-eye-formingbolt-s.

The drawings furnished illustrate my improved fence-post, which I willnow describe, and by specific claims point out the particular matter ofmy improvement.

In the drawings, Figure l represents in perspective my improved post asused for a wire fence. Fig. 2 is a similar view of my improved post asused for a board fence. Fig. 3 is a sectional detail of one of theperforated divisions which unite the parallel plate,

and Fig. 4 shows the hook-eye-forming boltv fil inch, joined at the topand at the bot-tomand at intermediate points by divisions b, whichdivide the space between the said plates into openings c of a length'adapted to receive the ends of boards in the construction of a boardfence, as shown in Fig. 2. Each of the said divisions has a perforationd, which extends horizontally through it, and a perforation e, whichneed extend only ashort distance into one end of said division parallelwith the said through perforation, so that when the post is to be usedin the construction of awire fence these perforations of each divisionare suited to receive a hook-bolt adapted to form eyes at one side ofthe post at the end of each of the said divisions, as shown in Fig. 1.These parallel plates are preferably made widest. at their lower endsand taper to their upper ends, and at their widest ends they join ahorizontal base-plate. Each plate is also preferably formed with aradial rib f on its outer side for strengh, which also taper to theirupper ends, and which, like the parallel plates, join the base or footof the post. This base or foot is formed of radial blades g, preferablyfour, which taper from the base-plate to a point central with the post.In setting the post the base-plate should be about eight inches belowthe surface of the ground, and,`

with the base-blades, serve to hold the post firmly in the ground. Insetting the post the holes need only be dug deep enough to receive thebase-plate, as the base or foot can be driven into the ground below suchdepth.

The hook-eye-forming bolt which I use in constructin g a wire fence hasits Screw-threaded part h of a greater length than the width of theparallel plates and passes through the perforation cl in the soliddividing parts b, which separate `these plates, and is secured by a nution its projecting screw-threaded end, while the short arm j of the hookend enters the perforation e of the said solid divisions and therebyforms a closed eye k, through which the wires Z are passed and may beclamped hard against the ends of the said solid divisions by means ofthe nuts. In thus using the post its parallel plates stand at rightangles to the lines of the wires.

In using the post for a board fence the parallel plates stand in theline of the fence, and the ends of the boards extend into the open- IOOings betweefthf plates beyond'th'e Center line ofthep'ost, the boardentering from one side resting on the division b and the board enteringfrom the other side resting upon the end of the other board. In thususing the post the hook-bolts are dispe'n'sed'with'; but'` the provisionfor using them is formed With the post and can be utilized at any time.

The top space 'or Opening of the'post is` talpi'a'teicappingf'saidb'ladessubstantially as desoribed.

2. An iron post east solid at the top and at the bottom and atintermediate portions b, With slots between said intermediate solid.portions,`the latter having horizontal perforations, one of whichextends through said solid portions, in combination with the hook-Kshaled bolts, each'having a long and a short arm entering saidperforation in the solid portions and having anut upon said long `arm;vsiihstan'tialiy asfidescribed;

In-ftestimony"whereof I have hereunto set .my hand in the presence oftwo subsoribing

